Demis Roussos: Singer who began as a prog-rocker then achieved massive solo success with his brand of sunkissed easy listening | The Independent News Demis Roussos: Singer who began as a prog-rocker then achieved massive solo success with his brand of sunkissed easy listening The haunting track 'The Four Horsemen' inspired the likes of Jon Anderson of Yes, Beck, Richard Ashcroft and Noel Gallagher Monday 26 January 2015 19:10 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Roussos in 1976 with some of his gold and silver discs (and a gold cassette); he sold more than 60m records worldwide Getty Gifted with a pleading, irresistible voice, particularly an operatic falsetto that seemed to hit a nerve and go right through you, the Greek singer Demis Roussos sold 60 million albums as a solo artist and with his first successful group, Aphrodite's Child.

His hairy physique, huge frame, fondness for kaftans and cheesy choice of material, sung in many languages, made him an easy target for parodists but, in the summer of 1976 there was no doubting The Demis Roussos Phenomenon, the title given to his No 1 EP, whose lead track, the cloying, balalaika-flavoured ballad "Forever And Ever", seemed to blare out of every juke-box and radio. Though the epochal "Rain And Tears" had been a pan-European smash and made the UK Top 30 for Aphrodite's Child in 1968, Britain came late to Roussos. In 1973 he guested on TV shows hosted by Basil Brush and his friend Nana Mouskouri, and by the following year, the Forever And Ever album was becoming ubiquitous. In 1976, the BBC broadcast a documentary entitled The Roussos Phenomenon, providing Philips with the perfect marketing opportunity, not only for "Forever And Ever", but also the equally sentimental follow-up "When Forever Is Gone", a No 2 single that same year.

In 1977 Roussos became a cultural signifier when the BBC broadcast Abigail's Party, the Mike Leigh play starring Alison Steadman as Beverly Moss, the aspirational housewife. Leigh had used "Light My Fire" by José Feliciano in the original production at the Hampstead Theatre in London, but the Play For Today team switched to "Forever And Ever" as the copyright was easier to clear. This proved a double-edged sword for Roussos, instilled within the British psyche, but maybe not as the supreme balladeer, Greece's own Barry White. He enjoyed further success with The Magic Of Demis Roussos and Live & Love – His Greatest Songs, and occasionally collaborated with Vangelis, most notably on "Tales Of The Future" for the soundtrack to Ridley Scott's 1982 dystopian film Blade Runner. In June 1985 he was one of 146 passengers on a TWA flight from Cairo to San Diego which was hijacked by members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. He was released after five days, calling the hijackers "nice people".

Born in Alexandria in 194, to Yorgos Roussos, a Greek engineer, and Nelly Mazloum, an Egyptian of Italian origin who had been a film and stage star and continued performing as well as teaching dance and choreography, Demis thrived in this culturally rich environment. He studied musical theory, trumpet and guitar and spent five years as head choirboy at the city's Greek Orthodox Church. However, following the Suez crisis and his parents' divorce he moved to Athens in the early '60s. There, he began singing popular music, eventually joining local cover bands We Five and the Idols. In 1966, as lead vocalist and bassist, he teamed up with the composer and keyboard-player Evangelos Papathanassiou – Vangelis – the drummer Loukas Sideras and guitarist Anargyros "Silver" Koulouris to form what would become Aphrodite's Child, the name they were given after sending a demo tape to at the London offices of Mercury Records. When the military junta came to power the following year the group moved to the UK, though Koulouris stayed to do his compulsory military service.

When their plane landed in Paris because of bad weather, the trio went to the French offices of Philips, Mercury's parent company, and began recording there. An adaptation of Pachelbel's Canon in D major by Vangelis, with lyrics by Boris Bergman, the plangent "Rain And Tears" had echoes of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", the Summer of Love smash, and another atmospheric ballad, "Nights In White Satin'', by the Moody Blues, and propelled Aphrodite's Child into the big league. Between 1968 and 1970 they made the charts throughout most of continental Europe with several of their follow-up, psychedelic pop singles, including the title tracks of their first two albums End Of The World and It's Five O'Clock . In 1971, Roussos issued his first solo single, ''We Shall Dance'', and debut album, On The Greek Side Of My Mind, but reconvened with Aphrodite's Child for the ambitious concept album 666, based on the Book Of Revelation.

Infamous when first issued after Aphrodite's Child broke up in 1972, because listeners were convinced that the Greek actress Irene Papas was pretending to climax on the track "∞" [infinity], the double vinyl set has since grown into a cult classic and one of the albums that defined progressive rock. The haunting track "The Four Horsemen" inspired the likes of Jon Anderson of Yes, Beck, Richard Ashcroft and Noel Gallagher. When I saw Roussos at London's Royal Festival Hall in 2002, the set list ticked all the solo boxes but also included a smattering of Aphrodite's Child classics and the mighty "The Four Horsemen''. "Even Andy Warhol had a copy of 666," Roussos – who had suffered health problems in recent years – said in 2009 when promoting his last album, Demis. "I'm like a painter who has had his different periods: jazz, soul, pop, psychedelia, variétés [mainstream, middle of the road success]. I don't have any regrets.

I have made over 60 million people happy with my records." Artemios Ventouris Roussos, singer: born Alexandria, Egypt 15 June 1946; married three times; died Athens 25 January 2015. Boot Hill: January 2015 Actor Juan Carlos Galvan has died DuarioVeloz 1/31/2015 The actor died at age 83. He worked in film, theater and television for over 64 years. The actor Juan Carlos Galvan died at age 83, according to the Argentina Association of Actors. He excelled on the big screen, theater and television for over 64 years. In 2004 he was awarded by the Senate of the Nation and the Argentina Association of Actors with Podesta Honorable Achievement Award. His remains are veiled in Zucotti House (Thames 1164). From 14 will be transferred to the crematorium in the cemetery of Chacarita. "Our condolences to his daughter, actress Fabiana García Lago, his sister Virginia Lake, family, friends and coworkers," expressed from said entity statement.

Del cuplé al tango, Los Acusados, Fin de fiesta con Arturo García Buhr y Graciela Borges, Propiedad con Tato Bores and Nelly Beltrán, Hombre de la esquina rosada and Los inocentes con Alfredo Alcón were some of the films in which he worked. In the last decade he filmed Chiche Bombón, Sueños atómicos, Madrileña bonita, Igualita a mí y La sublevación, Historias de cronopios y de fama, among some of his latest film appearances. On television he was part of the cast of Como pan caliente, Chiquilina mía, La extraña dama, Más allá del horizonte, Alta Comedia, Por siempre Mujercitas, Buenos Vecinos, Barracas al sur, El chupete, Matrimonios y algo más, Vulnerables, El Pulpo Negro,Carola and Carolina, La Bonita Página, La Chona Superstar.

GALVAN, Juan Carlos (Juan Carlos Garcia Galvan) Born: 6/26/1932, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina Died: 1/30/2015, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina Juan Carlos Galvan’s westerns – actor: Savage Pampas – 1966 (Isidro) Rod McKuen, prolific songwriter and poet, dies at 81 Los Angeles Times January 29, 2015 Rod McKuen, a prolific songwriter and poet whose compositions include the Academy Award-nominated song “Jean” for the 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” has died. He was 81. McKuen had recently been hospitalized and died Thursday at a Beverly Hills rehabilitation center of respiratory arrest after suffering from pneumonia, according to his friend and producer Jim Pierson. Among McKuen’s commercial successes in the 1960s and '70s were his reworking of Jacques Brel’s song "Le Moribond" for the English-language version of “Seasons in the Sun,” later covered by the Kingston Trio and Terry Jacks.

Frank Sinatra recorded an album of McKuen songs in 1969 called “A Man Alone,” which included “Love’s Been Good to Me.” He composed some wonderful and tuneful songs - I was just humming "Love's Been Good to Me" a couple of days ago. How great to leave songs that people sing -- onstage or in the shower. Besides his score for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” McKuen’s music for the animated feature “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” was also nominated for an Oscar. McKuen was born in Oakland in 1933 and wrote later of an unhappy childhood and the abuse he endured at the hands of his stepfather. In the '60s, McKuen moved to Paris and began writing poetry. In all, he published more than three dozen collections of poems and essays. Dies in Rio actress Vanja Orico, the 'Cangaço Cycle muse' She struggled against bowel cancer and had multiple organ failure. Actress was the only Brazilian to work with Italian director Frederico Fellini. 1/28/2015 She died on Wednesday (28) in Rio, after 85 years, the singer, actress and filmmaker Vanja Orico.

Affected by Alzheimer's, she still struggled against bowel cancer and was hospitalized since 11 January. The funeral is scheduled for this Thursday (29), at 16h, in St. John the Baptist Cemetery, South Zone of Rio. Vanja was designed in the art scene in 1953 when interpreting the music Woman Lacemaker, movie theme The Cangaceiro, Lima Barreto. She ended up being consecrated as the Muse "Cangaço Cycle", and participated in films like Lantern, The King's Cangaço and Jesuíno Bright, the bandit. The Rio de Janeiro artist participated in more than 20 films and was the only Brazilian actress to work with the filmmaker Federico Fellini, in the 50s, in the movie "Luci del varietà" ("Women and Lights"). Vanja also had notable participation during the military dictatorship. She was arrested and tortured after stopping the action of police during the student's funeral Edson Luiz, killed by repression. "Do not shoot, we're all Brazilians," would have screamed Vanja to police the system.

1/25/2015 The famous actor, satirist, humorist, singer and pianist, died yesterday at the age of 84 in Belgrade. He was born on June 16, 1931 in Belgrade and was a theater actor, but he also tried his hand at film and radio. He attended elementary school, high school and the Academy for theater, film, radio and television in the class of Professor Raše Plaovića. The rich acting career was realized in important roles in the plays "Jaje", "Olovka piše srcem","Tužna je nedelja", "Revizor", "Sponzor noćas mora pasti".. Egg". He was the first actor in Belgrade who played monodrama, Gogol's play "The Diary of a Madman," He had some original shows on television programs such as "Godine prolaze vreme teče". His acting power ruled the scene and won the audience. He retired after 40 years of work at the National Theatre in Belgrade, where he appeared in more than 120 roles.

Someone at that time wrote that the National Theatre has a great, small stage and Pavle Minčić. He received many awards ("Radoje Domanović", "Golden Turkey", "Golden Laurel" and others) including plaque "Artists and Performers" and "Golden Chain Award for Lifetime Achievement" for lasting contribution to culture. He was a prominent member of the "OSISANI hedgehog". He will be remembered as a hero of our childhood, a cheerful spirit and dear to the hearts of many generations while playing Paju in the children's series “Na slovo, na slovo”, in “Davitelj protiv Davitelja” played Dr. Dobricu Kopicl, in a series of “Pozorište u kući” was Sonny Boy, and Živorad in the series “Ljubav na seoski način”, and all this in addition to numerous television films in which he played. He was modest, never worked for money and did not get a national pension, while at the same time show performers received spoke: "It's behind me now," he usually rode the trolley.

1/26/2015 Marshall Schlom, a Hollywood script supervisor for four decades who worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kramer, Mike Nichols and all the top directors of his day, has died. He was 86. Schlom died Wednesday of complications from a fall at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his daughter, Wendi, told The Hollywood Reporter. His father was Herman Schlom, a top producer at RKO Studios who did such features as the film noir classic Born to Kill (1947) as well as several Dick Tracy movies. Marshall Schlom’s incredible body of work includes Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), William Wyler’s Funny Girl (1968), Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show (1971), Franklin J.

Schaffner’s Papillon (1973), Barry Levinson’s Rain Man (1988), John Hughes’ Uncle Buck (1989) and Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), He worked with Kramer on Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Pressure Point (1962), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Ship of Fools (1965), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969), Bless the Beasts & Children (1971) and The Domino Killings (1977). Schlom teamed with Herbert Ross on Funny Lady (1975), The Sunshine Boys (1975) and California Suite (1978); with Arthur Penn on The Chase (1966) and Night Moves (1975); with Richard Brooks on The Happy Ending (1969), $ (1971) and Looking for Mr.

Goodbar (1977); with Nichols on Silkwood (1983) and Postcards From the Edge (1990); and with Mel Brooks on Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), his final credit. Schlom also served as script supervisor on the CBS series Perry Mason from 1963-66, worked on NBC's The Monkees and was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences foreign film committee for four decades. Schlom attended the University of California at Berkeley and UCLA, then set out to join his father at RKO. Studio chief Howard Hughes would not permit relatives of employees to be hired, however, so he submitted his résumé under the name of Michael Scott and landed a job. Talking about working with Hitchcock on Psycho, Schlom said in 2012 interview that the director “knew everything about making movies, it was his job to go to work and make movies. “I can tell you without a doubt, he knew more about making movies than any other director that I’ve been associated with.

He ran a master class for me, that’s the best way to describe it.” In addition to his daughter Wendi, Schlom also is survived by his wife of 64 years, Dorothy; children Val and Marla; grandchildren Evan, Derek, Zoe, Micah, Jenna and Hunter; and sister Lois. Mexican actor, singer Demetrio ‘El Charro Spanish’ González has died. 1/26/2015 The baritone singer and actor Demetrio González, one of the figures of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, who worked alongside greats like Luis Aguilar, Lola Beltran, Jose Alfredo Jimenez and Miguel Aceves Mejía, among others, died Sunday at 8:50 pm in his house in Tepoztlan, Morelos, at 87 years of age. In an interview with Notimex, Rodolfo Gonzalez, son of so-called 'El Charro Spanish,' said his father "became very sick year from a stroke and was already very ill, died yesterday ".

He said that the actor "last year was very weak, but for a long time has been ill, so it was that the last seven years he lived there (Tepoztlan)". He said Demetrio González was removed from the art around 35 years ago and much time was spent on their stuff; although in recent years was now completely removed from everything." He added that he and Rodrigo and Barbara are the children who survived the late actor who celebrated a marriage with Maria Lourdes Rosas Priego and a second with Marina Tuero Tamayo. In recent years, "his favorite pastime was watching television, where he saw his films, among his favorite were 'Los Laureles' and 'Caminos de Guanajuato' by his friend José Alfredo Jiménez," said Rodolfo. Demetrio González was born in Asturias, Spain on October 7, 1927 and died on January 25, 2015 in Tepoztlan, Morelos. The son of the actor reported that on Monday at 21:00's his remains were cremated at a well-known funeral home, where he was viewed by family and friends.

Born: 10/7/1927, Castiello de Bernueces Gijon, Asturias, Spain Died: 1/25/2015, Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico Demetrio González’s westerns – actor: El jinete solitario – 1958 Guitarras de medianoche – 1958 (Demetrio) Tan bueno el giro como el Colorado – 1959 (Demetrio González 'El Gallo Colorado') Dos maridos baratos – 1960 El jinete solitario' en El valle de los desaparecidos: La venganza del jinete solitario – 1960 (Demetrio/Jinete solitario) Los inocentes – 1961 Pa' qué me sirve la vida – 1961 (Demetrio Morales) Pobre del pobre - 1961 Los cinco halcones – 1962 (Doctor Demetrio) Vuelven los cinco halcones – 1962 (doctor) El l

obo blanco - 1962 El amor llegó a Jalisco - 1963 Para todas hay – 1965 Gallo corriente, gallo valiente - 1966 Ambición sangrienta – 1968 (Teniente Fermín Moreno) Cuatro hombres marcados - 1968 Greek singer Demis Roussos dies aged 68 Greek singer Demis Roussos, who sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, has died aged 68 the Hygeia Hospital in Athens has confirmed to the BBC.

He was best known for his solo hits in the 1970s and 80s, including Forever and Ever, Goodbye and Quand je t'aime. He was also a member of progressive rock group Aphrodite's Child. Roussos was renowned for his off-screen role in Mike Leigh's 1977 TV play Abigail's party, having provided the party's soundtrack. Roussos was as famous for his outfits as his music He had been in the private hospital with an undisclosed illness for some time. Greek singer Nana Mouskouri paid tribute on French radio RTL: "He had a superb voice, he travelled in the world ... he loved what he was doing. "He was an artist, a friend. I hope he is in a better world." The singer was born Artemios Ventouris Roussos in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1946, to a Greek father and Egyptian mother of Italian origin. He was raised there until his parents moved to Greece in the early 60s after losing their possessions during the Suez Crisis.

Roussos began his music career at 17, when he joined the a band called The Idols, where he met his future Aphrodite's Child bandmate Vangelis. Aphrodite's Child produced three albums including It's Five O'Clock and The Apocalypse of St John, and enjoyed huge success in Europe in the late 1960s, especially France. Roussos went on to enjoy a successful solo career, topping the charts in several countries with Forever And Ever in 1973, before doing the same in the UK in 1976. The 1970s were a prolific time for the singer who talked about his UK success during that time in an interview with The Guardian in 1999. "This country was one of my most important territories," said Roussos. "Back in '75 I had five albums in the top 10. Simultaneously. And among them the number one album and the number one single.

And my name was mentioned twice or three times in the Guinness Book of Records." He continued: "In 1975 I had the award for the top male artist, the award for top single, the award for top album. The Abba and me we took everything. Hahahaha!" Other solo hits include My Friend the Wind, My Reason, Someday Somewhere and Happy To Be On An Island In The Sun. Roussos' fondness for kaftans saw him dubbed "the Kaftan King" and he often wore them for his performances on shows such as Top of the Pops. He was also famous for his vocal adaptation of the score from the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, which had been composed by Vangelis. In 1978 he decided to keep a lower profile and moved to Malibu Beach in the US. Plane hijack On 14 June, 1985, Roussos boarded TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Rome - and found himself at the mercy of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, who hijacked the plane. The men, who had smuggled a pistol and grenades through airport security, held the passengers at gunpoint.

The militant group demanded the release of 17 members of Hezbollah and the Iraqi Islamic Daawa Party, who had been detained in Kuwait for attacks that killed six people in 1983. Roussos spent his 39th birthday in captivity, before being released in Beirut on 18 June - but most of the remaining 153 passengers spent 17 days on the plane. Speaking to the Reuters news agency at the time, the singer said he had been "treated quite well". "They gave me a birthday cake and they gave me a guitar, to sing," he said. "They have been very polite and very nice with us." Return to music Over the years, his quote became misinterpreted and distorted. Some papers said he had serenaded the hijackers. Others claimed he had pledged allegiance to Hezbollah. Roussos, who rarely spoke about the incident, admitted he was riled by the exaggerations in an interview with Australia's Daily Telegraph in 2006. "It is not every day that a pop superstar gets involved with terrorism as a victim, so the press takes advantage of that to say things they think are funny.

"I would like to see the journalist [who first reported the claim] in front of gunpoint like I was. Believe me, if he was there he would be so scared he wouldn't care about writing such stupidities like that.'' The experience changed his life and afterwards he decided the best way he could help others and promote understanding in the world was by returning to music. He released his album The Story of Demis Roussos not long after. ROUSSOS, Demis (Artemios Ventouris Roussos) Born: 6/15/1947, Alexandria, Egypt January 24, 2014 October 26, 1916 - January 13, 2015 Robert Boon, Actor, born in Haarlem, the Netherlands, passed away, peacefully, after a heroic struggle with medical challenges, in West Hills Hospital, CA, at the age of 98. Robert Boon was a member of the Motion Picture Academy for over 50 years and for a number of years a member of the Foreign language Nominating Committee. He appeared as an actor in well known movies, and productions.

Just one day short of making that long anticipated move to the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home in Woodland Hills, Robert left a long and colorful life. In 1943 Robert Boon volunteered for the Netherlands India oil battalion, went for training to the USA, and from there to Australia. Attached to the Australian Army he joined for the invasion of Borneo and after VJ day, went to Java and Sumatra and then back to the Netherlands. While studying in Amsterdam he got interested in theatre, but because of financial necessity left for Curacao to work for BPM (Shell Oil), in the Dutch West Indies where he joined a "Little Theatre" co. and did work for the local radio station as an actor and writer. Robert first landed in NYC where he quickly found work in Radio / Live T.V. He soon settled in Los Angeles in 1947, and worked in his first movie "Berlin Express". Robert would be working in Films /TV right into his eighties. His Family and all of his Friends, who had the privilege to share his Friendship, humor and stories, will truly miss him. His ashes will be scattered/Ocean.

A Celebration of Roberts' life with Family and Friends will be hosted by one of his Friends, Ans E.,in July 2015. January 24, 2015 1914 - January 18, 2015 Richard F. McWhorter passed away on Jan 18, 2014 at the age of 100, peacefully in his home in the Los Angeles area. He began his movie industry career at Columbia Studios as a messenger boy in 1933. By 1937 he was working as a First Assistant at Paramount Studios, and was one of the original members of Directors Guild of America. His career eventually evolved into directing and producing. He worked with producers and directors including King Vidor, Sir Carol Reed, Hal Wallis and Frank Capra: Actors such as Burt Lancaster, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. A few of the most notable films he worked on are Rose Tattoo, Taming of the Shrew and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. When he was not working he could be found on the links of Wilshire Country Club, a 50 plus year avid golfer.

In 1944 he started Studio Process Body Company which provided break-away auto and truck bodies for rent to studios for use in close up scenes. He is proceeded in death by Loreine McWhorter loving mother of his children, Adrian McWhorter, beloved wife of his later years, and his son Richard Dennis McWhorter. He is survived by his daughter Nancy Lord, son-in-law Michael Lord, daughter-in-law Francesca McWhorter, 8 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. No memorial service is planned. McWHORTER, Richard (Richard F. McWhorter) Born: 6/6/1914, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. Died: 1/18/2015, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Richard McWhorter’s westerns – assistant director, production manager: Arizona – 1940 [assistant director] Desert Fury – 1947 [assistant director] Unconquered – 1947 [assistant director] The Paleface – 1948 [assistant director] Red Mountain – 1951 [assistant director] Silver City – 1951 [assistant director] Broken Lance – 1954 [production manager] Posted by January 19, 2015 LASKO--Gene, was a producer-director who worked with such esteemed actors as Dustin Hoffman and Marlon Brando. An Emmy Award winner, he directed and associate produced over 150 daytime television shows. Mr. Lasko was active in founding The National Theatre of the Deaf. He taught at NYU and SUNY Purchase, and chaired the Directing Department at the Actors Studio Drama School at the New School. He is survived by his nieces Joan Friedland and Margaret Crastnopol. LASKO, Gene (Eugene V. Lasko) Born: 193?, U.S.A.

Died: 1/19/2015, New York City, New York, U.S.A. Gene Lasko’s westerns – producer, creative consultant: Little Big Man – 1970 [associate producer] When Legends Die – 1972 [producer] The Missouri Breaks – 1976 [creative consultant] Posted by January 21, 2015 Frank Mazzola, longtime film editor and actor and technical consultant for the James Dean classic “Rebel Without a Cause,” died Jan. 13. He was 79. The Hollywood native began his career as a child actor, with parts in films including “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Always in My Heart,” “Casablanca” and “The Boy with the Green Hair.” After an extra role in Elia Kazan’s “East of Eden,” Mazzola worked in the most high-profile film of his career, “Rebel Without a Cause.” In addition to playing the character of Crunch, Mazzola provided technical assistance on the film, advising director Nicholas Ray on creating the reality of rebellious teens from middle class families.

He aided in the choosing of the film’s 1949 Mercury 8 Coupe as well as the red jacket worn by Dean in the film, and even helped stage the knife duel between Dean and Corey Allen. Mazzola transitioned into a career as a film editor, working throughout the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, on films including “Macho Callahan,” “Stiletto,” “Performance,” “The Hired Hand” and “The Second Coming of Suzanne.” In 1999, Mazzola completed work on a director’s cut of “Wild Side,” from the late director Donald Cammell, who died in 1996. He is survived by four daughters and three grandchildren. Services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 31 at Blessed Sacrament church in Hollywood. January 17, 2015 Walt Peregoy, the legendary artist who was the color stylist of Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians and headed up Hanna-Barbera’s background department for a time during the late-Sixties, passed away yesterday at the age 89.

The news was first reported by Disney’s official D23 Twitter account, which misidentified Peregoy as an animator. Born Alwyn Walter Peregoy in Los Angeles in 1925, and raised on a small island in San Francisco Bay, Peregoy often described his background as “American white trash.” As a teenager, he attended Saturday art classes at Chouinard Art Institute. He dropped out of high school in the tenth grade, and was hired at Disney at the age of 17 in the position of “traffic boy,” the lowest-rung employees at the studio who ferried artwork and supplies between offices. He quit after just a few months, saying that the studio felt too much like a factory, and wouldn’t return for another eight years.

Following a short stint as a cowhand on the Irvine Ranch and a tour with the Coast Guard during World War II, Peregoy moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he studied painting and sculpture at the Escuela de Bellas Artes “under the influence of [David Alfaro] Siqueiros, Diego Rivera and [José Clemente] Orozco.” Later in the 1940s, he lived in Paris where he studied painting. A key influence on him at this time was the French painter Fernand Léger. He was rehired at Disney in 1951 where “he started at the bottom again.” Peregoy worked for four years in the animation department as an inbetweener, assistant animator and clean-up artist, before production designer Eyvind Earle recruited him to become the first background painter on Sleeping Beauty in 1955. The studio’s next feature, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, was the project that allowed Peregoy to apply his fine art training on a Disney film. As the film’s color stylist, Peregoy worked closely with production designer Ken Anderson to devise a new way of painting backgrounds.

With the background linework printed on a separate cel level (thanks to the innovation of the Xerography process) and overlaid on top of the painted artwork, Peregoy designed the paintings as broad flat areas of color “with the awareness that it was not necessary to go in and render the hell out of a doorknob, or a piece of glass, or a tree.” “Peregoy in the 1950s was a true ‘Modernist’—a talented fine art painter who brought Modernism to Disney with strong abstractions in both layout and painting technique,” Pocahontas art director Michael Giaimo told me when I wrote the book Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation. “His work was a purer abstraction of reality as opposed to, say, the beautifully designed but more grounded work of Eyvind Earle.” Peregoy made significant contributions to other films at Disney including Paul Bunyan, (1958), The Saga of Windwagon Smith (1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967).

While at Disney, he appeared in the famous Disney documentary 4 Artists Paint 1 Tree alongside artists Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle and Joshua Meador: After being let go from the studio in the mid-Sixties, he started working in television on Format Film’s The Lone Ranger. On that show, he used a daring combination of grease pencil-on-cel with torn-construction paper underneath. Below, you can see a de-constructed background from the series that shows the grease pencil cel level and the separate color level underneath. “Powerful for Saturday morning, but you couldn’t say the backgrounds were Saturday morning crap because they weren’t,” Peregoy told interviewer Bob Miller. His innovative work on The Lone Ranger led to being hired at the TV powerhouse Hanna-Barbera in 1968, where he headed the background department for five years. He either styled or supervised the background designs of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Scooby Doo Where Are You!, The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, and Where’s Huddles?, among other series.

In the late-1970s, he returned to Disney’s theme park division WED, working on attractions for EPCOT such as Kraft’s The Land pavilion and Kodak’s Journey into Imagination. He continued freelancing in the animation industry during the Eighties and Nineties on projects that included My Little Pony: The Movie, Foofur, Tiny Toon Adventures, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, and The Specialists (below), a segment on MTV’s Liquid Television: In later years, Peregoy was known as much for his colorful profanity-laced tirades against the industry as he was for his art. He was honored with an ASIFA-Hollywood Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement in 2012. PEREGOY, Walt (Alwyn Walter Peregoy) Born: 1925, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Died: 1/16/2015, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Walt Peregoy’s westerns – background artist: The Saga of Windwagon Smith (TV) – 1961 The Lone Ranger (TV) – 1966-1969 The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (TV) – 1968-1969 Davy Crockett on the Mississippi (TV) – 1976 Posted by Don Harron, Canadian entertainment icon, dead at 90 Harron created comedic alter ego Charlie Farquharson, brought Anne of Green Gables to the stage. CBC News January 17, 2015 Don Harron, who created the Canadian comedic icon Charlie Farquharson during a decades-long career in show business, has died at his Toronto home. He was 90. His eldest daughter Martha told the Canadian Press her father died Saturday morning surrounded by family at his Toronto home after choosing not to seek treatment for cancer. "He was still sharp. He was still capable of being funny even though his voice was barely above a whisper," she said in a telephone interview from Toronto.

"It's horribly sad, but it's beautiful too." Harron entertained generations of Canadians with his comic alter ego Farquharson and helped bring the Canadian classic novel Anne of Green Gables from the page to the stage. During CBC’s 1952 television revue The Spring Thaw , the relatively unknown Harron took to the stage for a four-minute set. Few people watching knew they were about to witness a marquee moment in Canadian show business. That evening he introduced Canada to Farquharson – the country bumpkin from rural Ontario known for his incessant puns and decrepit grey cardigan sweater – a character that would solidify Harron’s place among the nation’s great entertainers. Starred on Hee Haw Harron achieved international success in the late 1960s when he began an 18-season stint performing as Farquharson on the hit U.S. variety show Hee Haw. His list of accomplishments extends far beyond Charlie. Harron was a seasoned theatre performer, acting in a half-dozen Broadway plays and three shows in London’s West End. He also featured during the inaugural 1953 season of the Stratford Festival.

It was in Stratford that he struck up a friendship with Oscar and Tony winner Christopher Plummer. Harron also enjoyed considerable success behind the scenes as a writer and director. He wrote the lyrics for five musicals, including the 1965 on-stage version of Anne of Green Gables, which was adapted from a television version he co-wrote nine years earlier. The show is performed every year during the Charlottetown Festival in P.E.I., a province where Harron has spent considerable time. In between stints on the stage, Harron was the host of CBC Radio’s flagship program Morningside from 1977 to 1982, for which he won an ACTRA award for best radio host. He later helmed CTV’s The Don Harron Show from 1983 to 1985. He also authored 17 books – most of them in character as Farquharson. Perhaps his most personally revealing work came in 2012, when Harron published the 440-page memoir My Double Life: Sexty Years of Farquharson Around With Don Harn. The release of the memoir roughly coincided with his retirement from the stage.

In a February 2012 interview with CBC’s Island Morning, Harron said he decided to walk away from performing after his short-term memory began to fade and he could no longer remember his set material in front of a live audience. Gemini for lifetime achievement Harron was invested as a member of the Order of Canada in 1980, and named as a member of the Order of Ontario in 2000 for his contributions to the Canadian entertainment industry. In 2007, he was given the Gemini Award for Lifetime Achievement in Radio and Television. Born in Toronto in 1924, Harron got an early start as an entertainer, earning $10 or $15 per night doing ‘chalk-talks’ – drawing caricatures in chalk as he told stories to audiences at banquet halls during the Great Depression. As a teenager, he spent time working on farms in rural Ontario in the early 1940s and briefly attended the University of Toronto before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943 as the Second World War raged in Europe and the Pacific.

Harron told CBC host Peter Gzowski in a 1977 television interview that he developed the Farquharson character during those early years working as a farm hand. He eventually returned to U of T after the war, earning a Bachelor of Arts. Harron's granddaughter, freelance journalist Zoe Cormier, said Harron's intellectual passions nearly led him down a very different career path than the one that made him famous. His passion for philosophy won him scholastic awards at the University of Toronto, she said, adding his confidence in both academic and entertainment arenas foreshadowed the range of roles he would take on during his performing career. "He's one of the few people that I would describe as a true polymath," Cormier said. "Anything he ever put his hand to he excelled at." Harron was married four times, most recently to French-Canadian comedian Claudette Gareau. He previously spent 34 years with Canadian singer Catherine McKinnon before divorcing in 2003. In his memoir, Harron wrote openly about multiple extramarital love affairs and the impact they’ve taken on his personal life and family. He is survived by three children and Gareau.

HARRON, Don (Donald Hugh Harron) Born: 9/19/1924, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Died: 1/17/2015, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Don Harron’s western – actor: The Texan (TV) – 1958 (Julian Dowd) Posted by January 13, 2015 My father passed away on Saturday. It was not unexpected since he had been sick for a long time. I'm sad, but also somewhat relieved. He died peacefully with his loved ones around him. He had a wonderful life full of experiences, that one could just imagine to have. I just wanted to remind everybody to spend time with your loved ones when you have the chance. It's the only the time you will have with them. I made the film The Grump / Mielensäpahoittaja for him and it's starting it's festival round attending numerous and numerous festivals. First I thought I'll cancel my festival appearances. -That it would be too heavy to talk about him when introducing the film again and again. But he would've not liked that.

He was a man who had a willpower I hope to have inherited. And he had a backbone. -You do the things you're supposed to do. And you live the life when you have the chance. I urge everyone to do so. Here is a nice interview made about him a while back. It will help me remember his thoughts about life and art always. Dad, have a great ride, wherever you are. January 16, 2015 Virginia “Patsy” Garrett, a well-known character actress best known as the “chow-chow-chow” lady on the Purina Cat Chow commercials, her recurring roles on TV’s “Nanny and the Professor” and “Room 222” and in the “Benji” movie series, died Jan. 8 after a brief illness in Indio, Calif. She was 93. Garrett played nosy neighbor Florence Fowler on “Nanny and the Professor” (1970-71), school secretary Miss Hogarth on “Room 222” (1972-73) and Mary Gruber in the “Benji” series of family films beginning in 1974.

Her numerous TV appearances from the 1960s through the ’80s included “Family,” “Kojak,” “Medical Center,” “The Waltons,” “Medical Center” and her final TV role as a bigoted mother on Redd Foxx’s “Sanford” in 1981. U.S. TV audiences of the 1960s and 1970s will remember Garrett for her role in a series of commercial messages as the Purina Cat Chow Lady. A post-production trick involving the controlled forward motion and reversal of the film had Garrett dancing the “chow-chow-chow” with a cat in a good-humored parody of the cha-cha-cha. Garrett also appeared as the mayor’s wife in the 1969 Elvis Presley film “The Trouble With Girls,” which led to a lifelong friendship with the singer.

In the late 1960s, Garrett provided cartoon voiceovers for a number of Hanna-Barbera projects, including “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.” She most recently appeared onscreen in a small role in the 1991 film “Mississippi Masala.” Born in Atlantic City, N.J., to parents who were vaudevillians (“Mason & Gwynne”), the actress and singer had her own children’s radio show on a Richmond, Va., station at the age of 7. At age 17, she became a regular on Fred Waring’s national radio show “Pleasure Time” as a comic singer from 1938 to 1945. During this time, she was approached by Cole Porter to promote the now-standard ballad “Begin the Beguine,” which he had written for a new musical. Garrett was preceded in death by husband Alexander Kokinacis, a composer who wrote under the name Nick Alexander. She is survived by a son and a daughter, a stepson, and and a number of grandchildren. Services were held Jan. 13 at Forest Lawn in Cathedral City, Calif.

Donations may be sent to Children’s Playtime Productions at Voice Actor, Chikao Otsuka, passes away Japan's voice actor, Chikao Otsuka, has passed away today due to heart failure. He was best known for his work in the Japanese television animation and video game industry. If you grew up with Sonic Adventure the way I did, you probably played the game with the Japanese voices on. And, even as Sega of America constantly shuffles in new actors at cheaper rates, you could always count on the Japanese language track being there if you wanted to hear some familiar voices. But one of those voices is no longer with us. Today we are learning that Chikao Otsuka, the Japanese voice of Doctor Eggman, died on January 15th. A (machine translated) post made by Aoni Production: Our affiliation actor Yi Chikao Otsuka (85 years), January 15, 2015 because of ischemic heart failure [has] passed away. [We thank you] from the bottom of [our hearts] for your kindness.

Otsuka was what you would call a “lifer.” IMDB lists his first job as an actor in the 1968 Tetsuwan Atom anime, better known to North Americans as “Astro Boy.” He went on to play a number of beloved roles in his career, including Metal Gear Solid‘s Big Boss, Goemon in the anime Lupin the Third, Tao Pai Pai in Dragon Ball, and Gold Roger in One Piece, among dozens of others. Literally from the dawn of anime, this man was playing a major part in the industry. He will be missed, and may his legacy never be forgotten. Otsuka was noted for his voice as Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Doctor Eggman and Gerald Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Jinpachi Mishimi in the Tekken franchise, Captain Hook in the Kingdom Hearts series, and so many more.

Born: 7/5/1929, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan Died: 1/15/2015, Japan Chikao Ōtsuka’s westerns – voice actor: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 1966 [Japanese voice of Eli Wallach] Guns for San Sebastian - 1968 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson] Once Upon a Time in the West – 1968 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson] Villa Rides! – 1968 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson] A Talent for Loving – 1969 [Japanese voice of Richard Widmark] Red Sun – 1970 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson] Chino – 1979 [Japanese voice of Charles Bronson] Posted by

Question: The t.v. version of which 1977 play by Mike Leigh features Demis Roussos singing 'Forever And Ever'?
Answer: 'ABIGAIL'S PARTY'